Monday, February 10, 2014

Rethinking school discipline

Last
month, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan released a “Dear Colleague”
letter to state chiefs regarding new discipline guidelines. The
overarching purpose of the new discipline guidelines is to address
apparent disparities in discipline data. In Kentucky,
we have very safe schools and teachers feel strongly that school
discipline policies are working. (See the TELL Kentucky Survey at www.tellkentucky.org).
Also, Kentucky has been working for a number of years to implement
programs such as Positive Behavior Intervention Support throughout our
schools. However, it is critical that local school districts review the
guidance from the U.S. Department of Education and review some of
Secretary Duncan’s remarks. Here are highlights from Secretary Duncan’s
address announcing the new guidelines.We’re gathered here today to talk about school discipline—which, far too often, is not applied equitably or as effectively as it could be in our nation’s schools.So today,
the Departments of Education and Justice are joining together to release
a guidance package on school discipline for a broad range of
stakeholders--educators, principals, district administrators, school
board members, charter school heads, school resource officers,
counselors, social workers, parents, community leaders--and,
importantly, students themselves.Our school discipline package has several elements, but I’ll just highlight two important ones. The first is a Dear Colleague Letter
from Catherine Lhamon and Jocelyn Samuels, who head the civil rights
offices, respectively, at ED and DOJ. Their joint letter provides
information on how schools and districts can meet their legal
obligations to administer student discipline without discriminating on
the basis of race, color, or national origin.Racial
discrimination in school discipline is a real problem today, and not
just an issue from 40 to 50 years ago. I want to thank Catherine and
Jocelyn and their staffs for their tremendous leadership and commitment
in addressing inequities in discipline that have been much discussed but
rarely addressed. We must tackle these brutal truths head on—that is
the only way to change the reality that our children face every day.This is the
first Administration to provide guidance to the public on discrimination
in school discipline. And we want to continue to provide leadership on
this critical problem going forward to ensure equal opportunity for all
students.The second
part of the guidance package that I want to highlight is a Guiding
Principles document that provides voluntary action steps for local
leaders and educators. It lays out three core principles and related
action steps to guide efforts to improve school climate and school
discipline.There is no
single formula, no silver bullet for ensuring school discipline is
equitable and effective. This work is too complex and too important to
try to simplify it in that way.Our Guiding Principles document
highlights the need for locally-developed approaches to promote
positive school climates and equitable discipline practices. Yet at the
same time, we think those locally-tailored approaches should be grounded
in research and promising practices--instead of being based on
indiscriminate zero tolerance policies, or, at the other extreme, ad-hoc
approaches to discipline.The need to
rethink and redesign school discipline practices is long overdue. Too
many schools resort too quickly to exclusionary discipline, even for
minor misbehaviors.Exclusionary
discipline is so common that in some cases, pre-K students as young as
three- and four-years old are getting suspended. Here in Maryland, 91
pre-K students were suspended or expelled during the 2011-12 school
year.Schools
should remove students from the classroom as a last resort, and only for
appropriately serious infractions, like endangering the safety of other
students, teachers, or themselves. Unfortunately today, suspensions and expulsions are not primarily used as a last resort for serious infractions.A landmark
study in Texas found nearly six in ten public school students—a majority
of students--were suspended or expelled at least once between 7th and
12th grade.Nationwide,
as many as 95 percent of out-of-school suspensions are for nonviolent
misbehavior--like being disruptive, acting disrespectfully, tardiness,
profanity, and dress code violations.Let me be
clear—these are all issues that must be dealt with clearly, effectively,
and with a sense of urgency when they arise. But I would just ask, is
putting children out of school the best remedy, the best solution to the
problem? In California, nearly half of the more than 700,000
suspensions statewide in the 2011-12 school year were for, quote,
“willful defiance.”Over time,
the overreliance on exclusionary discipline has gotten much worse. The
number of secondary school students suspended or expelled over the
course of a school year has increased by roughly 40 percent in the last
four decades.In recent
years, secondary schools have suspended or expelled an estimated two
million students a year. That is a staggering amount of lost learning
time--and lost opportunity to provide support.Making
matters worse, exclusionary discipline is applied disproportionately to
children of color and students with disabilities. Educationally, and
morally, that status quo is simply unacceptable.Our
department’s Civil Rights Data Collection shows that African-American
students without disabilities are more than three times as likely as
their white peers to be expelled or suspended.And we know
that discipline policy and practices matter tremendously—there is
nothing inevitable about high rates of suspension and expulsion. We can,
and must, do much better.According to
CRDC data, schools in South Carolina suspended 12.7 percent of
students—about one in eight students during the 2009-10 school year. By
contrast, schools in North Dakota suspended 2.2 percent of
students—about one out of every 50 students.I am
absolutely confident that students in South Carolina are not six times
more likely than their peers in North Dakota to pose serious discipline
problems worthy of an out-of-school suspension. That huge disparity is
not caused by differences in children; it’s caused by differences in
training, professional development, and discipline policies. It is adult
behavior that needs to change.The same
gaping disparities show up at the district level. Across the country,
more than 300 districts suspend over 25 percent of students with
disabilities. Yet more than 600 districts suspend less than 3 percent of
students with disabilities.So, state
and local policies and practices are both enormously variable and have a
huge impact on exclusionary discipline. Those are just two reasons why
this guidance package--spelling out three guiding principles for
equitable school discipline—is so important.USED offers several resources to schools and districts on the supportive school discipline initiative. You can access them on USED’s school climate and discipline webpage.

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Why This Blog?

So far as we know, we only get one lifetime. So, when I "retired" in 2004, after 31-years in public education I wanted to do something different. I wanted to teach, write and become a student again. I have since spent a decade in higher ed.

I have listened to so many commentaries over the years about what should be done to improve Kentucky's schools - written largely by folks who have never tried to manage a classroom, run a school, or close an achievement gap. I came to believe that I might have something to offer.

I moved, in 1985, from suburban northern Kentucky to what was then the state’s flagship district - Fayette County. I have had a unique set of experiences to accompany my journey through KERA’s implementation. I have seen children grow to graduate and lead successful lives. I have seen them go to jail and I have seen them die. I have been amazed by brilliant teachers, dismayed by impassive bureaucrats, disappointed by politicians and uplifted by some of Kentucky’s finest school children. When I am not complaining about it, I will attest that public school administration is critically important work.

Democracy is run by those who show up. In our system of government every citizen has a voice, but only if they choose to use it.

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On the campaign trail...with my wife Rita

An action shot: The Principal...as a much younger man.

Faculty Senate Chair

Serving as Mace Bearer during the Inauguration of Michael T. Benson as EKU's 12th president.

Teaching

EDF 203 in EKU's one-room schoolhouse.

Professin'

Lecturing on the history of Berea College to Berea faculty and staff, 2014.

Faculty Regent

One in a long series of meetings. 2016

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